Mills Reef Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2024

Mills Reef Reserve Hawke's Bay Chardonnay is an opulent, full-bodied Chardonnay from Hawke's Bay, brimming with ripe nectarine, baked peach and juicy rock melon, alongside inviting hints of vanilla, ginger spice and toasty oak. The palate is generous and beautifully creamy, with layers of golden stone fruit, baked apple and roasted nuts complemented by subtle butterscotch and warm spice. Fresh acidity cuts through the richness, bringing lovely balance and a long, satisfying finish. Barrel fermented and matured in French oak, this is a classic, generously styled Hawke's Bay Chardonnay with plenty of depth and character. A fantastic match for pan-fried fish with butter sauce, roast chicken, creamy pasta or fresh crayfish.

What the winery says:

Grapes were carefully selected from three acclaimed Hawke's Bay vineyard sites with red metal and alluvial soils. The warm, dry 2024 growing season provided ideal ripening conditions, with fruit harvested between 7 and 18 March. Following pressing and settling, the juice was fermented in French oak barrels, 33% of which were new, using selected Chardonnay yeasts. The wine underwent 35% malolactic fermentation before spending 12 months maturing in oak with regular lees stirring to build richness and complexity. Bottled in March 2025, the resulting wine offers ripe stone fruit, gentle spice and toasty oak flavours with a creamy, beautifully balanced finish.

What the experts say:

Cameron Douglas MS, 93/100 (2024 Vintage)
“A deepening yellow core with straw and flecks of gold lead to a bouquet of baked red apple and fresh peach, there’s a layer of baking spices, vanilla and Brazil nut leesy qualities. A wine with ripeness and complexity. Full-bodied, dry, weighty and classic creaminess coats the palate. Fruit flavours and leesy oak and tannin textures dominate the palate then a contrasting seam of acidity offers contrast and balance. Well made, dry and lengthy. A classic example from the Leveret and Mills Reef stable. Ready to drink from day of purchase through 2029.”